Born in Tarragona in 1960, Antoni Arola studied design at EINA school in Barcelona, graduating in 1984. He went on to work at several prestigious studios, including Lievore & Pensi and Associate Designers (AD), a leading technological design factory of the time, headed by Ramón Bigas and Pep Sant. In 1994, he founded his own lighting studio, Estudi Arola, and began to lay the foundations for his design work, with a rather artisan than industrial feel. That same year, he designed his first collection of lamps.